Book reviews and other musings from a bibliophile and self-proclaimed geek.

Defenders of Earth

An ancient war against an alien threat wages on with defense measures bolstered by what seems to be magic in J. Patrick Black’s Ninth City Burning.

Earth has been under attack from an alien force called Romeo that wields a power that seems to work as magic for hundreds of years. In the latest attacks, those set to defend the city have noticed some irregularities in the Romeo attacks that could lead to a more decisive victory of the skirmishes that periodically take place. With the young recruits from the Academy bravely taking the lead in the strategy of the anomalous actions of Romeo can their city, and Earth as a whole, be saved from annihilation?

The story was interesting and a slightly different take on the dystopian future that has dominated in the past few years. When coupled with the multiple POV common in epic fantasy series, this helps to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the world and how characters’ actions effect the whole. While there was decent world building and explanation of new terminology and what drove things to be as they are for the reader, many portions of the explanations felt too info-dumpy and disrupted the natural flow of the narrative, making it a slower read than anticipated.